KASB Securities wins AsiaMoney award for Best Domestic Equities House

Karachi

Asiamoney was quoted as saying "In a two-horse race between KASB Securities and JS Global Capital, the former wins by a nose to retain its title of last year. Both houses have been busy in terms of deals, and Pakistan-based fund managers acknowledge their strength of management, analysts and sales staff. But KASB benefits from its tie-up with international partner Merrill Lynch, based on a technical agreement dating to 1993. One analyst in Karachi notes: In the domestic market KASB is at the top. JS Global is a name that carries clout, but KASB's research is second to none because they do it with Merrill Lynch. It has access to a global network. KASB has more than 45 stocks under active coverage, a six-strong research team and a 7% market share of total turnover on the Karachi Stock Exchange. KASB wins in deal volume and value for the past 12 months, according to Dealogic. It acted as financial advisor to MCB on its US$150 million global depository receipt (GDR) offering - the first such offering for a Pakistani issuer in more than 10 years - and this year was joint-advisor on the US$460 million acquisition of mobile company Paktel (Millicom) by China Mobile Communications Corp. It has been mandated for United Bank's GDR offering and also helped to stage Pakistan dedicated conferences in Singapore and London."

The KASB story is not complete yet and should be announcing the results of a major restructuring exercise in July. It's a vision of what investment bankers want their businesses to look like in the future.